Put the assistant on WhatsApp
This is the channel your customers actually live in, and it is also the one Meta guards most carefully. Nothing here is difficult on its own — but there are five pieces that all have to exist, and two places where almost everybody gets stuck. This page explains both honestly, so you can decide whether to do it yourself or let us do it with you.
! Read this first
The website widget goes live in minutes. WhatsApp does not, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Here is the honest comparison:
- Live the same day
- You can do it alone
- No approval from anyone
- Usually 3–5 working days
- Meta reviews your business
- Needs a dedicated number
0 What you need before anything
- A phone number you can dedicate to this. It must be able to receive an SMS or a voice call to verify it, and it must not currently be in use on WhatsApp or the WhatsApp Business app. Once a number moves to the official API it can no longer be used in the phone app — which is why most businesses buy a fresh line rather than giving up the number their customers already know.
- A Facebook account you control, used to create or access your business account on Meta. Not a personal profile you share with staff.
- Your real business details. Name, address, website. Meta compares what you type against what it can see about you, so guessing here creates delays later.
- A display name for the assistant.This is what customers see above the chat. Meta reviews it, and it must relate to your actual business — “Bella’s Kitchen” passes, “Best Prices Now” does not.
1 The five pieces that must exist
Meta's console changes its wording and layout often, so instead of button names, here is what actually has to be true when you are finished. If all five exist, it works.
- 1Meta Business accountYour business, as Meta knows it
- 2WhatsApp Business AccountThe container your number lives in
- 3A dedicated phone numberAdded and verified by SMS or call
- 4An app with WhatsApp enabledWhat connects the number to us
- 5A permanent access tokenCreated from a System User
They are created in roughly that order, and each one is a prerequisite for the next. The first four are form-filling. The fifth is the one that trips people up — see below.
2 The two things everyone gets wrong
① The test number is not a real number
Meta gives you a free test number to play with, and it looks like everything is working: you can send messages from the console and they arrive. But a test number does not deliver real customers' messages to your assistant. Your customer sends a message, sees two grey ticks, and nothing ever happens.
We lost days to exactly this. Everything on our side was correct; the test number simply does not route real traffic. You have to complete the production step and register your own number before anything real works.
② The token you can see is not the token you need
The access token shown on the setup panel is temporary — it expires in 24 hours. It works perfectly when you test it, which is what makes this so cruel: you connect everything, confirm it works, and a day later your assistant silently stops replying.
A production setup needs a permanent token, created from a System User in your business settings, with WhatsApp messaging permission granted on your account. That is the single step most people miss.
3 What to send us
Once your number is registered, we need exactly two values:
- Phone Number ID — a long number shown next to your registered phone number. Not the phone number itself.
- Permanent access token — the System User token from the previous section.
Put them into your dashboard under Channels → WhatsApp and press connect. We check them against Meta immediately and show you the business name and number that came back — so you know within seconds whether they are right, rather than finding out days later.
4 How long it takes
- Filling in the forms: under an hour, if your details are ready.
- Verifying the phone number: minutes — an SMS or a call.
- Meta reviewing your display name and business: this is the wait. Typically three to five working days.
- Connecting it to DeskGenie: seconds, once you have the two values.
Meta may come back asking for a document proving the business is yours. That is normal, not a rejection — send what they ask for and the clock continues.
5 Once it is live
- Your assistant answers on WhatsApp exactly as it does on your website — same knowledge, same personality, in whatever language the customer writes.
- You get a notification when someone leaves their number, asks for a human, or asks something the assistant cannot answer.
- You can take over any conversation from your inbox and reply in your own words, with one switch to pause the assistant in that chat.
- Meta bills WhatsApp conversations separately, directly to your own account. We never mark that up, and we will always tell you before anything about it changes.
? Known gotchas
Messages arrive but the assistant never replies
Almost always one of the two mistakes above: you are still on the test number, or your token has expired. Reconnect with a permanent token first, before looking anywhere else.
It worked yesterday and stopped today
That pattern is the 24-hour token, near enough every time.
Meta rejected my display name
It has to relate to your real business, and cannot be a generic phrase or a promise about price. Use the name customers already know you by, and you can request a change later once your account has a history.
Can I use my existing WhatsApp Business number?
Technically yes, but it leaves the phone app for good, and you would lose the app you currently run your business on. Nearly everyone regrets this. Register a new line and keep the old one.